French city cancels conference of Palestinian activist Hamouri

The Mayor of the French city of Lyon, Gregory Doucet, yesterday canceled a conference hosting French-Palestinian lawyer Salah Hamouri, to “ensure harmony” in the city.

The conference entitled “Thirty years after the signing of the Oslo Accords, a look at Palestine” was due to take place at Lyon’s City Hall tomorrow.

Hamouri was deported from Israel to France a month ago after spending several months in prison after being accused of being a “terrorist” by the occupation state. The Palestinian lawyer had worked tirelessly to highlight the plight of Palestinians living under occupation as part of the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association.

“I do it in my role as the mayor who must ensure civil peace and harmony in the city,” Doucet said, stressing that he regretted not being able to “guarantee the freedom of expression in a context marked with an outbreak of violence in Israel.”

“There was very strong verbal violence, a form of intimidation… and I must do everything so that the violence suffered it is not imported here,” Doucet said.